I’m a fan of the city’s efforts to get a total of 100 miles of
protected bike lanes (which put a physical barrier between cyclists and
moving traffic) and buffered bike lanes (conventional bike lanes with
extra dead space striped on either side) by 2015. Protected lanes are crucial
if we’re going to significantly boost Chicago’s bike mode share because
they attract the so-called “interested but concerned” demographic,
folks who would like to try urban cycling but are worried about getting
hit by cars. The Chicago Department of Transportation deserves kudos for installing 11.4 miles of protected and 18.65 miles of buffered lanes in the last two years.

That said, there are some issues
with Chicago-style protected lanes, created by moving the parking lane
to the left of the bike lane, which is delineated by flexible plastic
posts, so that the parked cars serve as the barrier. For example, this
configuration makes it harder for right-turning drivers to see cyclists,
which can result in the dreaded “right hook” crash. It’s common for
motor vehicles, especially cabs and delivery trucks, to drive and park
in protected lanes. And curbside asphalt tends to be in worse shape than
the rest of the road and often has poor drainage, as demonstrated by
the slush-filled puddles in the Dearborn Street protected lanes this
winter.

European-style raised bicycle lanes, elevated a few inches above
street level and sometimes located an inch or two below the sidewalk,
could solve all of these problems. Also called grade-separated lanes,
these facilities are the norm in cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen,
which each have more than seventeen times our bike mode share. Chicago’s
Bike 2015 Plan, published in 2006, called for testing grade-separated lanes in two or three locations by 2010, but nothing ever came of this recommendation.

“Raised bike lanes and other permanent ‘hardscaping’ on our protected
bike lanes would be welcome improvements to Chicago’s streets and are a
natural next step to make it safer and easier to bike,” said Lee
Crandell from the Active Transportation Alliance. “Chicago’s [current]
protected bike lanes were created mostly through simple retrofits of
existing street infrastructure, enabling the city to achieve significant
improvements for biking both rapidly and at a minimal cost … but we
would also like to see the city find opportunities to pilot more
permanent infrastructure in the near term.”

CDOT Commissioner Gabe Klein explained that grade-separate lanes cost
roughly $1 million per mile to build, about four times as much as
Chicago-style protected lanes. Construction would be much more
complicated, and getting approval from federal and state authorities
plus local aldermen would be more challenging. But Klein rode on raised
lanes during a visit to the Netherlands last October, and he agrees that
they would be a big improvement over Chicago’s current lanes.

“I thought [the Dutch raised lanes] were wonderful,” he said. “They
make a lot of sense. The interesting thing is, I think when we were in
Utrecht, when I showed [local transportation planners] pictures of what
we’re doing here, they broke out laughing, not like they were making fun
of us but almost in an affectionate way. And I said, ‘What’s so funny?’
And they said, ‘It’s just interesting to look at these pictures of your
bike lanes because this is exactly what we were doing forty years
ago.’”

“The mainstreaming of cycling as a basic part of [American]
transportation infrastructure is a new thing in the last decade,” Klein
said. “And so the infrastructure now has to catch up. So what you see
is, like in D.C. or here or New York, first you start with striping, and
then you add some inexpensive plastic posts. Then you move to concrete
or other forms of hardscaping. And then you’re going to move to
rebuilding streets with the bike lane not as an afterthought but as an
integral part of the infrastructure.”

Klein surprised me by revealing that CDOT actually plans to install
Chicago’s first raised bike lane within the next year. He declined to
say which streets his department is considering because they’re still in
negotiations with the Illinois Department of Transportation and other
agencies. But he said the potential locations are on streets that
already have high levels of cycling, where he’s confident the local
aldermen will get behind the plan and there won’t be a major backlash
from residents.

Milwaukee Avenue, more or less, fits that description, and CDOT plans to build protected bike lanes
on that street this spring between Elston Avenue and Kinzie Street. But
Klein said it’s much cheaper to install raised bike lanes on roadways
that are undergoing a full-depth reconstruction, which involves
resetting utility lines and drainage, since building the lanes requires
moving the curb and gutter. Milwaukee is not scheduled for this kind of
reconstruction, but we can expect to see Chicago’s first raised lane
built on another popular biking street that is. “In the future, if we’re
reconstructing, and it makes sense, and we can work it out with the
authorities, we’d like to see grade-separated bike lanes become the
standard,” he said.

I wouldn’t have blamed Klein if he’d decided to shelve plans for
raised bike lanes until after CDOT meets its 100-mile goal, but I was
stoked to hear grade-separated lanes have returned to the front burner.
“We can look at blanketing the city with [Chicago-style protected and
buffered bike lanes] and, as we do street reconstructions, also start to
dip our toe into a more permanent hardscaped design strategy,” he said.
“We’re very capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.”